Pseudolite-based precise positioning system with synchronised pseudolites

ABSTRACT

Pseudolite-based precise positioning system with synchronised pseudolites that can compute the position of a mobile station with slave pseudolites synchronised to master pseudolite is provided. Therefore pseudolite-based precise positioning system according to present invention does not need correction information of a reference station. A pseudolite-based precise positioning system for computing the position of a mobile station without correction information of a reference station, the pseudolite-based precise positioning system includes: master pseudolite with reference clock of the positioning system; at least one slave pseudolite having digitally controlled numerical controlled oscillator means; mobile station computing the position of itself based on the clock-synchronised signal from the master pseudolite and the slave pseudolite without correction information of a reference station; and clock synchronisation loop filter means having the digitally controlled numerical controlled oscillator means synchronise the clock of the slave pseudolite to the clock of the master pseudolite by transmitting synchronisation information U  k? of the slave pseudolite to the digitally controlled numerical controlled oscillator means, clock synchronisation loop filter means generating the synchronisation information U  k? based on the pseudorange information and carrier phase information received from the master pseudolite and the slave pseudolite.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to a precise navigation system usingpseudolites; and, more particularly, to a precise navigation systemusing synchronized pseudolites, which can perform a positioningalgorithm using precisely clock-synchronized pseudolites.

BACKGROUND ART

Researches on satellite positioning systems have started as the U.S.Department of Defense partially discloses a signal of the GlobalPositioning System (GPS) to civilian areas. Now, the technology haspassed the level of research and development and reached the level ofusing it commercially. Automobile navigation systems or navigationsystems of airplanes and vessels are the examples. One big advantage ofthe satellite navigation system is that one can find the position ofhimself relatively precisely with just a GPS receiver wherever he is onthe globe.

However, the conventional GPS can be used in the outdoors only. Itcannot be used in the inside of a building or a region where satellitesignals are shut off, because the GPS can perform positioning only in aregion where the GPS satellite signals are received, that is, where theGPS satellite can be observed from the antenna of the GPS receiver.

Since the radio wave transmitted from the GPS satellite is weak, if theGPS satellite is not observed and the radio wave cannot be received dueto the configuration of the ground or natural features of the earth and,thus, GPS positioning could not be performed. Generally, GPS positioningcan be used only in the outdoors where the GPS can be observed, and notused in the indoors, such as the inside of a building or factory.

According to the navigation system using pseudolites, which is disclosedin the present invention to solve the problems of GPS, although a movingobject is inside a room, it can be positioned by receiving a pseudosatellite signal, which is the same signal as received from the GPSsatellite, from a pseudolite through a GPS receiver.

The pseudolite can be used both indoors and outdoors withoutrestrictions that the GPS or Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS)has. Thus, it can be used for an indoor navigation system as well. Also,when it is used in the outdoors, it builds a navigation system that canbe operated independently from the existing GPS or GNSS satellite.

FIG. 1 is a structural diagram illustrating a conventional precisenavigation system using pseudolites. As shown in the drawing, theprecise navigation system 100 using pseudolites includes pseudolites 101a to 101 d, a reference station 103, and a mobile station 105. Thepseudolites 101 a to 101 d, which are devices for generating the samesignal as the GPS satellite signal, are constituent for assisting GPS orfor transmitting the same signal as the GPS satellite in a region wherethe signal from the GPS satellite cannot be received.

The structure of pseudolites 101 a to 101 d is illustrated in FIG. 2. Asdepicted in FIG. 2, the pseudolites 101 a to 101 d modulate a C/A codeand a navigation message, that is, pseudo random number (PRN) code anddata message over a carrier wave of L1 (1575.42 MHz), and transmit thecarrier wave signal to the reference station 103 and the mobile station105. In short, the pseudolites 101 a to 101 d perform the role ofanother GPS satellite by generating the same signal as the GPSsatellite.

In a precise navigation system 100 using the pseudolites illustrated inFIG. 1, the coordinates of a region where the pseudolites 101 a to 110 dare installed are computed by performing precise pre-surveying.

The reference station 103 transmits carrier wave correction informationto the mobile station 105 by using the carrier wave satelliteinformation transmitted from the pseudolites 101 a to 101 d. Then, themobile station 105 figures out its own position by using the carrierwave information transmitted from the pseudolites 101 a to 101 d and thecarrier wave correction information transmitted from the referencestation 103. Here, the carrier wave correction information is generatedby using double differenced carrier-phase information.

The mobile station 105 does not need any separate receiver. It canestimate its own position by receiving radio waves from the pseudolites101 a to 101 d with the conventional GPS receiver. The precisenavigation system 100 using the pseudolites 101 a to 101 d can beeffectively used for tracking the position of a person inside a buildingor the position of a mobile robot operated inside a factory. Also, itcan measure the position of a mobile station which moves from inside aroom to the outside, successively.

FIG. 3 is a structural block diagram illustrating a mobile station ofFIG. 1. In the drawing, it includes a pseudolite antenna 301, apseudolite signal reception unit 303, a signal processing unit 305, amicroprocessor 306, and a memory module software 307.

The pseudolite signal reception unit 303 processing a GPS L1 frequencyof 1575.42 MHz receives a pseudolite signal through the pseudoliteantenna 301 and transmits it to the signal processing unit 305. Thereceived pseudolite signal is processed through an accumulator (notshown) and a correlator of the signal processing unit 305. The signalprocessing unit 305 receives the pseudolite signal from the pseudolitesignal reception unit 303, decodes a navigation message by processingthe pseudolite signal, determines the coordinates of the pseudolites 101a to 101 d and transmits them to the microprocessor 307. Themicroprocessor 307 controls the operation of the signal processing unit305 and runs the software 309 in the memory module. The microprocessor307 and the memory module software 309 compute the propagation transmittime and pseudorange between the pseudolites 101 a to 101 d and themobile station 105, and measure the position of a mobile station 105 byusing the pseudolite and the pseudorange.

The conventional pseudolite navigation system determines the position ofa mobile station by using a pseudolite which is not clock-synchronized.It also requires a reference station that measures the clock differenceinformation between all pseudolites, i.e., pseudorange and carrier wavephase correction information, in order to remove error by computing thepseudorange caused by the temporal asynchronization between thepseudolites and the pseudolite clock error correction informationincluded in the carrier-phase. Moreover, there are problems that a datalink should be set up between the reference station and the mobilestation to transmit the correction information to a mobile station, andthat an additional algorithm should be prepared for the samplingclock-synchronization of the mobile station and the reference stationdue to the data link setup.

A carrier-phase (P1R) measurement (φ_(P1R)) and Doppler measurement({dot over (φ)}_(P1R)) of a first pseudolite 101 a, which are measuredin the reference station 103 of the conventional pseudolite navigationsystem 100, shown in FIG. 1, are rewritten as Equation 1,φ_(P1R) =d _(P1R) +B _(R) −b _(P1) +N _(P1R)·λ+ε₁₀₀{dot over (φ)}_(P1R) ={dot over (B)} _(R) −{dot over (b)}_(P1)+ε_({dot over (φ)})  Eq. 1

-   -   wherein d_(P1R) denotes the distance between the signal transmit        antenna of the first pseudolite 101 a and the receiver antenna        of the reference station 103;    -   B_(R) denotes a clock bias of a receiver of the reference        station 103;    -   b_(p1) denotes a clock bios of the first pseudolite 101 a;    -   λ denotes a wavelength        $\left( {\frac{299792458}{1.57542*10^{9}}m} \right)$        of carrier wave;    -   N_(P1R) denotes an unknown integer for a carrier-phase between        the first pseudolite 101 a and the mobile station 105;    -   ε_(φ) denotes carrier-phase measurement noise;    -   {dot over (B)}_(R) denotes a receiver clock drift of the        reference station 103;    -   {dot over (b)}_(P1) denotes a clock drift of the first        pseudolite 101 a; and    -   ε_({dot over (φ)}) denotes a Doppler measurement noise.

A carrier-phase (P2R) measurement (100 _(P2R)) and a Doppler measurement({dot over (φ)}_(P2R)) of a slave pseudolite 101 b, which are measuredin the reference station 103, are rewritten as Equation 2,φ_(P2R) =d _(P2R) +B _(R) −b _(P2) +N _(P2R)·λ+ε₁₀₀{dot over (φ)}_(P2R) ={dot over (B)} _(R) −{dot over (b)}_(P2)+ε_({dot over (φ)})  Eq. 2

-   -   wherein d_(P2R) denotes the distance between the signal transmit        antenna of the second pseudolite 101 b and the receiver antenna        of the reference station 103;    -   B_(R) denotes a clock bias of a receiver of the reference        station 103,    -   b_(P2) denotes a clock bias of the second pseudolite 101 b;    -   λ denotes a wavelength        $\left( {\frac{299792458}{1.57542*10^{9}}m} \right)$        of carrier wave;    -   N_(P2R) denotes an unknown integer for a carrier-phase between        the second pseudolite 101 b and the mobile station 105;    -   ε_(φ) denotes carrier-phase measurement noise;    -   {dot over (B)}_(R) denotes a receiver clock drift of the        reference station 103;    -   {dot over (b)}_(P2) denotes a clock drift of the second        pseudolite 101 b; and    -   ε{dot over (φ)} denotes a Doppler measurement noise.

The reference station 103 performs a difference operation as Equation 3with respect to the carrier-phase value and Doppler value, which aremeasured as shown in Equations 1 and 2.φ_(P1R)−φ_(P2R) =d _(P1R) −d _(P2R) −b _(P1) +b _(P2)+(N_(P1R)−N_(P2R))·λ+ε_(φ){dot over (φ)}_(P1R)−{dot over (φ)}_(P2R) =−b _(p1) +{dot over (b)}_(P2)+ε_({dot over (φ)})  Eq. 3

In Equation 3, It is assumed that the precise position of the signaltransmit antenna of each pseudolite 101 a to 101 d and the preciseposition of the receiver antenna of the reference station 103 are known.Actually, the positions of the antennas can be determined precisely byperforming positioning. Therefore, d_(P1R)−d_(P2R) is not an unknownnumber but a becomes a constant term.

The reference station 103 can calculate the clock difference (ΔB₁₂)between the first pseudolite 101 a and the second pseudolite 101 b andthe speed (Δ{dot over (B)}₁₂) of the clock difference as Equation 4, byusing a property that the unknown number of carrier-phase is an integerand rounding off the carrier-phase difference of Equation 3.$\begin{matrix}{\begin{matrix}{{\Delta\quad B_{12}} \equiv {{- b_{P1}} + b_{P2}}} \\{= {\phi_{P1R} - \phi_{P2R} - \left( {d_{P1R} - d_{P2R}} \right) -}} \\{{{round}{\left\{ \frac{\phi_{P1R} - \phi_{P2R} - \left( {d_{P1R} - d_{P2R}} \right)}{\lambda} \right\} \cdot \lambda}} + ɛ_{\phi}}\end{matrix}{{{\Delta\quad{\overset{.}{B}}_{12}} \equiv {{\overset{.}{\phi}}_{P1R} - {\overset{.}{\phi}}_{P2R}}} = {{- {\overset{.}{b}}_{P1}} + {\overset{.}{b}}_{P2} + ɛ_{\overset{.}{\phi}}}}} & {{Eq}.\quad 4}\end{matrix}$

Since a group of non-clock-synchronized pseudolites are used in theconventional technology, the clock difference (ΔB₁₂) and the speed(Δ{dot over (B)}₁₂) of the clock difference become to have the followingproperties.ΔB₁₂≠0Δ{dot over (B)}₁₂≠0

Accordingly, to compute the pseudorange caused by the temporalasynchronization between the pseudolites and the pseudolite clock errorcorrection information included in the carrier-phase, the clockdifference (ΔB_(ij)) and the speed (Δ{dot over (B)}_(ij)) of the clockdifference between an i_th pseudolite and a j_th pseudolite are computedfor all pseudolites by using the reference station 103. Then, theyshould be transmitted to the mobile station 105 though a data linkestablished between the reference station 103 and the mobile station105. Here, a separate method should be used for the sampling clocksynchronization of the receiver of the reference station 103 and themobile station 105.

Meanwhile, the pseudorange (ρ) and carrier-phase (φ) measured in themobile station 105 in the conventional technologies are expressed asEquations 5 and 6, respectively, $\begin{matrix}\begin{matrix}{\rho_{P1U} = {{\left( {R_{P1} - R_{U}} \right) \cdot {\hat{e}}_{U}^{1}} + B_{U} - b_{P1} + ɛ_{\rho}}} \\{\rho_{P2U} = {{\left( {R_{P2} - R_{U}} \right) \cdot {\hat{e}}_{U}^{2}} + B_{U} - b_{P2} + ɛ_{\rho}}} \\{\vdots} \\{\rho_{PkU} = {{\left( {R_{Pk} - R_{U}} \right) \cdot {\hat{e}}_{U}^{k}} + B_{U} - b_{Pk} + ɛ_{\rho}}}\end{matrix} & {{Eq}.\quad 5}\end{matrix}$

-   -   wherein ρ_(PkU) denotes a pseudorange measurement of a k_th        pseudolite which is measured in a receiver of the mobile station        105;    -   R_(Pk) denotes a three-dimensional positioning vector of a        signal transmit antenna of the k_th pseudolite;    -   R_(U) denotes a three-dimensional positioning vector of a        receiver antenna of the mobile station 105;    -   ê_(U) ^(k) denotes a three-dimensional unit vision line vector        of the k_th pseudolite looked at from the mobile station 105;    -   B^(U) denotes a clock bias of the receiver of the mobile station        105;    -   b_(Pk) denotes a clock bias of the k_th pseudolite; and

ε_(ρ) denotes a pseudorange measurement error; $\begin{matrix}\begin{matrix}{\phi_{P1U} = {{\left( {R_{P1} - R_{U}} \right) \cdot {\hat{e}}_{U}^{1}} + B_{U} - b_{P1} + {N_{P1U} \cdot \lambda} + ɛ_{\phi}}} \\{\phi_{P2U} = {{\left( {R_{P2} - R_{U}} \right) \cdot {\hat{e}}_{U}^{1}} + B_{U} - b_{P2} + {N_{P2U} \cdot \lambda} + ɛ_{\phi}}} \\{\vdots} \\{\phi_{PkU} = {{\left( {R_{Pk} - R_{U}} \right) \cdot {\hat{e}}_{U}^{k}} + B_{U} - b_{Pk} + {N_{PkU} \cdot \lambda} + ɛ_{\phi}}}\end{matrix} & {{Eq}.\quad 6}\end{matrix}$

-   -   wherein φ_(PkU) denotes a carrier-phase measurement of a k_th        pseudolite which is measured in a receiver of the mobile station        105;    -   R_(Pk) denotes a three-dimensional positioning vector of a        signal transmit antenna of the k_th pseudolite;    -   R_(U) denotes a three-dimensional positioning vector of a        receiver antenna of the mobile station 105;    -   ê_(U) ^(k) denotes a three-dimensional unit vision line vector        of the k_th pseudolite looked at from the mobile station 105;    -   B_(U) denotes a clock bias of the receiver of the mobile station        105;    -   b_(Pk) denotes a clock bias of the k_th pseudolite;    -   λ denotes a wavelength        $\left( {\frac{299792458}{1.57542*10^{9}}m} \right)$        of carrier wave;    -   N_(PkU) denotes an unknown integer of carrier wave between the        k_th pseudolite and the mobile station 105; and    -   ε_(φ) denotes a carrier-phase measurement error.

The unknown integer N_(PkU) of the carrier-phase of FIG. 6 can becalculated by using a carrier-phase unknown integer initializing method.

The pseudorange measurement error ε_(ρ) has a unit size of meter (m),and the carrier-phase measurement error ε_(φ) has a unit size ofmillimeter (mm). Thus, a pseudorange measurement or a carrier-phasemeasurement may be used in the determination of the position of themobile station 105 based on the precision required. In other words, incase where meter (m)-based error is allowed, the mobile station 105 ispositioned by using the pseudorange measurement. If centimeter(cm)-based error is allowed, the mobile station 105 is positioned byusing the carrier-phase measurement.

Also, even in the process of positioning the mobile station 105 using acarrier-phase measurement, the approximate position of the mobilestation 105 may be determined using the pseudorange measurement untilthe unknown integer N_(PkU) is determined.

The mobile station 105 applies the pseudolite clock correctioninformation (ΔB_(1k)≡−b_(P1)+b_(Pk)) transmitted from the referencestation 103 to the pseudorange ρ (Eq. 5) measured by the mobile station105.

When the clock correction information (ΔB_(1k)≡−b_(P1)+b_(Pk)) isapplied to Equation 5, below Equation 7 can be obtained. $\begin{matrix}\begin{matrix}{{\begin{bmatrix}{\hat{e}}_{U}^{1} & {- 1} \\{\hat{e}}_{U}^{2} & {- 1} \\\vdots & \vdots \\{\hat{e}}_{U}^{k} & {- 1}\end{bmatrix} \cdot \begin{bmatrix}R_{U} \\{B_{U} - b_{P1}}\end{bmatrix}} = {\begin{bmatrix}\begin{matrix}\begin{matrix}{{R_{P1} \cdot {\hat{e}}_{U}^{1}} - \rho_{P1U}} \\{{R_{P2} \cdot {\hat{e}}_{U}^{2}} - \rho_{P2U} - {\Delta\quad B_{12}}}\end{matrix} \\\vdots\end{matrix} \\{{R_{Pk} \cdot {\hat{e}}_{U}^{k}} - \rho_{PkU} - {\Delta\quad B_{1k}}}\end{bmatrix} +}} \\{\begin{bmatrix}\begin{matrix}\begin{matrix}\begin{matrix}ɛ_{p} \\ɛ_{p}\end{matrix} \\ɛ_{p}\end{matrix} \\\vdots\end{matrix} \\ɛ_{p}\end{bmatrix}}\end{matrix} & {{Eq}.\quad 7}\end{matrix}$

That is,H(x)·x=Z(x).

Here, x denotes the position of the mobile station, and the mobilestation 105 determines its three-dimensional position by applying anon-linear least square method to Equation 7, which is obtained byapplying the pseudolite clock correction information(ΔB_(1k)≡−b_(P1)+b_(Pk)) transmitted from the reference station 103 tothe pseudorange ρ (Eq.

5) measured by the mobile station 105.

Even when the carrier-phase φ (Eq. 6) is used, the mobile station 105determines the position of its own in the same way that the position ofthe mobile station 105 is calculated using the pseudorange measurement,based on the pseudolite correction information (Δ{dot over(B)}_(1k)≡−{dot over (φ)}_(P1R)+{dot over (φ)}_(PkR)) transmitted fromthe reference station 103.

However, in the conventional technologies, the pseudolite computes theposition of the mobile station 105 by using another pseudolite whoseclock is not precisely synchronized with other pseudolites, because ituses cheap Temperature Controlled Crystal Oscillator (TCXO), which isdifferent from the GPS satellite. Accordingly, there is a problem that aseparate reference station should be used to calculate the pseudorangecaused by the temporal asynchronization between the pseudolites and thecarrier-phase correction information (i.e., a clock difference (ΔB_(ij))and the speed (Δ{dot over (B)}_(ij)) of the clock difference between ani_th pseudolite and a j_th pseudolite). To transmit the clock differenceinformation to the mobile station 105, a data link should be set upbetween the reference station 103 and the mobile station 105. Thisbrings about such problems as complicated equipment of mobile station,cost increase by setting up an additional data link between thereference station and the mobile station for a reason other than thepurpose of GPS signal reception, frequent breakdown and the like.

In addition, there is a problem that an additional algorithm should beprepared for the sampling clock synchronization of the mobile stationand the reference station. If the clocks of the pseudolites are notsynchronized, the clock of the reference station and the mobile stationis not synchronized, either. Therefore, the reference station and themobile station come to perform sampling on the signal transmitted from apseudolite at different time, respectively. In this case, a time-tagerror is generated due to the correction navigation which is performedwith data which are sampled at different time. To solve the problem oftime-tag error, the clocks of the reference station and mobile stationare synchronized by using a navigation message frame of a masterpseudolite.

DISCLOSURE OF INVENTION

The present invention is suggested to solve the problems of theconventional technology which is caused by transmitting pseudorange andcarrier-phase correction information, which is generated due toasynchronous pseudolite clock, from a separate reference station to amobile station, and then computing the location of the mobile stationusing the correction information.

It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to provide aprecise navigation system using synchronized pseudolites that canexecute a navigation algorithm by synchronizing the clocks of otherpseudolites to the clock of a master pseudolite so that a mobile stationshould not need correction information generated in a reference station.

The above and other objects and features of the present invention willbecome apparent to those skilled in the art from the following drawings,detailed description of the preferred embodiments and claims.

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a precise navigation system using pseudolites that candetermine a position of a mobile station even without correctioninformation transmitted from a reference station through a data link,including: a master pseudolite having a reference clock of thenavigation system; at least one slave pseudolite having a digitallycontrolled numerical controlled oscillating unit; a mobile station whichdetermines a position of the mobile station based on a clocksynchronized signal transmitted from the master and slave pseudoliteseven without correction information transmitted from the referencestation through the data link; and a clock synchronization loopfiltering unit for generating synchronization information U_(k) of theslave pseudolite(s) based on the pseudorange and/or carrier-phaseinformation received from the master pseudolite and the slavepseudolite(s), and transmitting the synchronization information U_(k) tothe digitally controlled numerical controlled oscillating unit so thatthe digitally controlled numerical controlled oscillating unit couldsynchronize the clock(s) of the slave pseudolite(s) with the referenceclock of the master pseudolite.

In accordance with the present invention, the clock synchronizationcontrol system of each pseudolite receives the master pseudolite signaland its own signal simultaneously, measures the clock difference betweenits own clock and the master pseudolite clock, and controls its ownclock by using a pseudolite clock controller of the clocksynchronization control system. After all, if the pseudolites aresynchronized with the master pseudolite, it is possible for a mobilestation to position itself with a precision of centimeter or meter evenwithout correction information generated by a reference station. Thus, aprecision navigation system without a data link for transmittingcorrection information between the reference station and the mobilestation can be embodied.

That is, in accordance with the present invention, it is possible toembody a navigation system where a mobile station can calculates theposition of itself without requiring any correction information bysynchronizing the clocks of pseudolites precisely which transmit thesame signal as a Global Positioning System (GPS).

However, since the pseudolite navigation system of the present inventiondetermines the position of a mobile station by using clock-synchronizedpseudolites, it does not need a reference station that measures thepseudorange and carrier-phase correction information, which is a clockdifference information between the pseudolites and also does not need adata link between the reference station and the mobile station fortransmitting the correction information to the mobile station. Inaddition, it does not need an additional algorithm for the samplingclock synchronization of the mobile station and the reference stationdue to the setup of the data link between the reference station and themobile station.

Since the precise navigation system of the invention, which usessynchronous pseudolites, can enhance the economical efficiency andsystem stability by performing positioning with a precision of a fewmeters or a few centimeters without any data link, differently from themobile stations of a differential GPS or carrier-phase differential GPSthat requires correction information generated by an external referencestation. This is because the pseudolites, which are signal transmitters,are synchronized precisely.

Further, the system of the present invention can be embodied just bymodifying part of software, without a change in the receiver hardware ofthe mobile station, which uses a conventional GPS receiver. Inparticular, the system of the present invention can be cooperated inmutual assistance with GPS of the U.S. Department of Defense, GLONASS ofRussia, and a GNSS system, such as a Galileo system of Europe which willbe operated in future. Depending on cases, it can be built independentlyfrom the GNSS system at a moderate cost. Therefore, it is significant inthe aspects of national economy and security.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The above and other objects and features of the present invention willbecome apparent from the following description of the preferredembodiments given in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a structural diagram illustrating a conventional precisenavigation system using pseudolites;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a structure of the pseudolite of FIG.1;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram depicting a structure of a mobile station ofFIG. 1;

FIGS. 4A and 4B are block diagrams describing a structure of a precisenavigation system using pseudolites in accordance with an embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a partial structure of pseudolites inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a digitally controlled numericalcontrolled oscillator and a clock synchronization loop filtering unit;

FIG. 7 is a conceptual diagram describing a pseudolite clocksynchronization process of the navigation system in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a flow chart describing the operation of the clocksynchronization loop filtering unit;

FIG. 9 is a detailed flow chart illustrating a carrier-phase cycle slipprocess of FIG. 8;

FIG. 10 is a flow chart describing the clock synchronization processconversion order and condition of the clock synchronization loopfiltering unit;

FIG. 11 is a graph illustrating a process of the clock synchronizationloop filtering unit controlling a reference clock of the digitallycontrolled numerical controlled oscillator in the synchronous phase 2;

FIG. 12 is a graph describing the relationship between a switchingboundary and a frequency change amount in the synchronous phase 3 of theclock synchronization loop filtering unit;

FIG. 13 is an exemplary schematic diagram showing a secondary frequencysynchronization loop filter for frequency synchronization in thesynchronous phase 5 of the clock synchronization loop filtering unit inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 14 is an exemplary schematic diagram showing a tertiary phasesynchronization loop filter for phase synchronization in the synchronousphase 7 of the clock synchronization loop filtering unit in accordancewith an embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 15 is a graph illustrating an experimental output of the pseudolitenavigation system in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Following description just shows the principle of the present invention,and those skilled in the art the present invention belongs to can embodythe principle of the invention and invent various devices in the rangeof the concept and scope of the present invention, even though they arenot described or illustrated in the present specification. Theconditional terminologies and embodiments mentioned in the presentspecification are intended to have the concept of the inventionunderstood, and the present invention should be construed not limited tothe embodiments and conditions specifically mentioned. Detaileddescription on the particular embodiments as well as the principle, viewpoint and embodiments should be understood to include all otherstructural or functional equivalents to them. The equivalents alsoshould be understood to include not only those currently known but alsothose to be developed in future, that is, all devices that are inventedto perform the same function as mentioned in the specification,regardless of their structure.

For example, block diagrams of the present specification should beunderstood to show the conceptual viewpoint of an exemplary circuit thatspecifies the principle of the present invention. Similarly, all theflow charts, graphs showing a change in condition and pseudo codes canbe embodied substantially in a computer-readable medium. Also, theyshould be understood to express processes performed by a computer or aprocessor, regardless of whether the computer or processor isillustrated definitely.

The functions of devices illustrated in a drawing including a functionalblock which is expressed as a processor or a similar concept can beprovided by a dedicated hardware or a hardware which can operate aproper software for them. When the functions are provided by aprocessor, the processor may be a single dedicated processor, singleshared processor, or a plurality of individual processors, part of whichcan be shared.

The use of a term ‘controller’ or other terms having similar conceptshould not be construed to refer to a exclusive hardware that canoperate a software, but to include ROM, RAM and non-volatile memory forstoring a digital signal processor (DSP), hardware and software withoutrestriction, implicatively. Other hardware widely known andconventionally used may be included thereto. Similarly, a switchillustrated in the drawing may be one just suggested conceptually. Thisfunction of switch should be understood to be performed manually orthrough a program logic or dedicated program and controlled through aninteraction of the program or dedicated logic. Particular technology maybe selected by a designer to describe the present specification more indetail.

The constituents expressed in claims as a means for performing afunction described in the detailed description part of the specificationare intended to include all methods that performs the function includingall forms of software, such as a combination of circuit devicesperforming the functions and firmware/micro code and the like. They areconnected to the proper circuit for operating software to perform thefunctions. The system of the present invention defined as claimed is acombination of the functions provided by mentioned means and methodsrequested by the claims. Therefore, any means that can provide thementioned function should be understood to be an equivalent to what isfigured out from the present specification.

Other objects and aspects of the invention will become apparent from thefollowing description with reference to the accompanying drawings, whichis set forth hereinafter. The same reference number is given to the sameconstituent, although it appears in different drawings. Also, anydetailed description that may blur the point of the present invention isomitted. Hereinafter, preferred embodiment of the present invention willbe described in detail with reference to accompanying drawings.

The core technology of the present invention is a method forsynchronizing the clocks of pseudolites. Clock synchronization methodsare largely divided into two: One is a method using a cable and theother is a method without using a cable.

In the cable synchronization method, a clock signal of a masterpseudolite is used as an input of another pseudolite through a cable.Due to the cable, this method is proper to a case where pseudolitesgather in a relatively limited place. On the contrary, in the wirelesssynchronization method, a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver setup in a pseudolite clock synchronization controlling system receives thesignals from a master pseudolite and a pseudolite simultaneously,measures the clock difference between the master pseudolite and thecorresponding pseudolite, and controls the clock of the correspondingpseudolite by using a pseudolite clock controller of the clocksynchronization system.

A navigation system of the present invention using pseudolites can beused in the indoors as well as the outdoors. Accordingly, it is possibleto embody an independent navigation system that can substitute for GPSand/or Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS).

FIGS. 4A and 4B are block diagrams describing a structure of a precisenavigation system using pseudolites in accordance with an embodiment ofthe present invention. To determine a three-dimensional position of amobile station, at least four pseudolite signals are required. In thepresent specification, a navigation system that can determine athree-dimensional position is described as an embodiment of the presentinvention. In accordance with the embodiment of the present invention,one of pseudolites is selected as a master pseudolite, and the otherpseudolites become slave pseudolites. Then, the clocks of the slavepseudolites are synchronized with the clock of the master pseudolite.

In the first embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4A, a clock synchronizationloop filtering unit 407 generates a command U_(k) for synchronizing theclocks of all the slave pseudolites 403, transmits it to each of theslave pseudolites 403. Then, the slave pseudolites 403 synchronizestheir clocks with a digitally controlled numerical controlled oscillator405.

Meanwhile, in a second embodiment described in FIG. 4B, each slavepseudolite 403 has a clock synchronization loop filtering unit 407. So,it can generate a command U_(k) for synchronizing a clock to operate thedigitally controlled numerical controlled oscillator 405. The slavepseudolites 403 include an antenna for transmitting a pseudolite signaland the digitally controlled numerical controlled oscillator 405 forcontrolling the pseudolite clock. The first embodiment includes a radiomodem (not shown) for the use as a data link, which is a data interfacewith the clock synchronization loop filtering unit 407, in each of theslave pseudolites 403, and the second embodiment includes a GPS receiver(not shown) and an antenna are included in each of the slave pseudolites403.

In the first and second embodiments, a pseudolite having a referencenumeral 401 is taken as a master pseudolite, and the master pseudolite401 does not include the digitally controlled numerical controlledoscillator. This is because the slave pseudolites 403 are synchronizedwith the clock of the master pseudolite 401 in the present invention.

A mobile station 409 includes a GPS receiver (not shown) and an antenna(not shown). The clock synchronization loop filtering unit 407 includesa GPS receiver (not shown), an antenna (not shown) and an operation unit(not shown). Particularly, in the first embodiment, the clocksynchronization loop filtering unit 407 further includes a radio modem(not shown) for the use as a data link, which is a data interface withthe slave pseudolites 403.

The first and second embodiments shows an example where a separate clocksynchronization loop filtering unit 407 is provided as a unit forgenerating a clock synchronization command U_(k) and an example wherethe clock synchronization loop filtering unit 407 is provided to eachslave pseudolite to generate a clock synchronization command U_(k). Thetwo embodiments have a difference just in the position and number of theclock synchronization loop filtering unit 407, but their basic conceptsare not different. If only, in a case where the visibility between thepseudolites becomes a matter, the first embodiment will be suitable, andin a case where setting up a data link between the clock synchronizationloop filtering unit 407 and the slave pseudolites is troublesome, thesecond embodiment will be able to take care of the trouble.

In the navigation system of the present invention, shown in FIGS. 4A and4B, it is assumed that the positions of the fixed constituents arepre-determined, except for the mobile station 409. The actual positionsof the fixed constituents can be determined precisely by performingpositioning.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a partial structure of the pseudolites401 and 403 in accordance with an embodiment of the present invention.As illustrated in the drawing, a pseudolite can select its own clockthrough a clock selecting unit 501, such as a temperature controlledcrystal oscillator (TCXO) or one of external clocks as a referenceclock.

For example, the master pseudolite 401 uses TCXO which is its own clockinstalled inside as a reference clock, and the slave pseudolites 403uses external clock as a reference clock. That is, the frequency ofreference clock is 10.23 MHz and a carrier wave of 1.57542 GHz issynthesized through a PLL frequency synthesizer 503 and a voltagecontrolled oscillator (VCO) 505.

Here, the pseudolites 401 and 403, which are illustrated to describe theembodiment of the present invention, may have a frequency of L1 and apseudo-random number (PRN) code rate of 1.023 MHz. However, inaccordance with the present invention, the frequency of the pseudolites401 and 403 can use a PRN code rate of 10.23 MHz as well as thefrequency of L2 or L5, which are the frequency of a GPS satellitenavigation system. That is, it is apparent to those skilled in the artthat the pseudolite frequency and PRN code rate vary according to thenavigation system using pseudolites. Therefore, the present inventionshould be understood not limited to a particular pseudolite frequencyand PRN code rate.

Also, it is apparent to those skilled in the art that the PRN code canbe a C/A code or P code according to the navigation system usingpseudolites. Accordingly, the present invention should be understood notlimited to a particular PRN code.

To describe the C/A code and P code more, a receiver needs to decode aunique code of each satellite to receive information from it. The C/Acode, which is a kind of PRN codes, is used for standard positioning. Itis also used for shortening the signal acquisition time of P code in theprecise positioning system. C/A stands for Clean and Acquisition orCoarse and Acquisition, and P stands for Precision or Protect. Thelength of C/A code is 1023 bits, and the clock frequency is 1.023 MHz.That is, the repetition period of the C/A code is 1 ms. In the meantime, the clock frequency of P code is 10.23 MHz, which is 10 times aslong as the C/A code.

A pseudolite control unit 507 initializes a PRN generation unit 509 andthe PLL frequency synthesizing unit 503 suitably for the PRN number ofpseudolite. The pseudolite control unit 507 receives a 50 bps navigationmessage from the outside through such a communication as RecommendedStandard-232 Revision C (RS232C) (i.e., an interface used for serialdata communication of relatively slow speed), and transmits it to thePRN generation unit 509.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a digitally controlled numericalcontrolled oscillator 405 and a clock synchronization loop filteringunit 407. If the clock difference (ΔB₁₂) of FIG. 4 and the speed (Δ{dotover (B)}₁₂) of the clock difference have the following characteristic,the clock of the master pseudolite 401 corresponding to the firstpseudolite 101 a and the clock of the slave pseudolites 403corresponding to the second pseudolites 101 b are synchronized.ΔB₁₂=0Δ{dot over (B)}₁₂=0

As shown above, to make the clock difference (ΔB_(1k)and the speed(Δ{dot over (B)}_(1k)) of the clock difference of the master pseudolite401 and the slave pseudolite 403 become zero, the clock of the slavepseudolite 403 should be controlled. This function of controlling theclock of slave pseudolite 403 is performed by the digitally controllednumerical controlled oscillator 405 based on the synchronizationinformation U_(k) transmitted from the clock synchronization loopfiltering unit 407.

That is, the digitally controlled numerical controlled oscillator 405generates a reference frequency to be used as a clock source for theslave pseudolite 403 through a numerically controlled oscillator 603based on the clock synchronization error (_(m)Δ_(s)b) between the masterpseudolite 401 and the slave pseudolite 403 and the synchronizationinformation U_(k) generated by the clock synchronization loop filteringunit 407.

The numerically controlled oscillator 603 generates a desired frequencythrough a relatively precise reference frequency generation unit 605,such as TCXO and oven controlled crystal oscillator (OCXO). A clockgenerated by the numerically controlled oscillator 603 is inputted tothe slave pseudolite 403 as an external clock, and used as itsreference.

The clock synchronization loop filtering unit 407 makes the clock of theslave pseudolite 403 synchronized with the clock of the masterpseudolite 401 stably. That is, it controls the digitally controllednumerical controlled oscillator 405 to satisfy Equation 8 so that theclock of the slave pseudolite 403 could be synchronized with the clockof the master pseudolite 401. The clocks of the other slave pseudolites403 are synchronized through the same process.

A mobile station 409 computes its position using the conventionalmethod. The only difference is that when the clocks of the slavepseudolites 403 are synchronized with that of the master pseudolite 401,the pseudolite clock correction information (ΔB_(1k) and Δ{dot over(B)}_(1k)) becomes all zero, and thus Equation 7, which was used todetermine the position of a mobile station 409 in the conventionaltechnology, becomes re-written as Equation 8. $\begin{matrix}{{\begin{bmatrix}{\hat{e}}_{U}^{1} & {- 1} \\{\hat{e}}_{U}^{2} & {- 1} \\\vdots & \vdots \\{\hat{e}}_{U}^{k} & {- 1}\end{bmatrix} \cdot \begin{bmatrix}R_{U} \\{B_{U} - b_{P1}}\end{bmatrix}} = {\begin{bmatrix}\begin{matrix}\begin{matrix}{{R_{P1} \cdot {\hat{e}}_{U}^{1}} - \rho_{P1U}} \\{{R_{P2} \cdot {\hat{e}}_{U}^{2}} - \rho_{P2U}}\end{matrix} \\\vdots\end{matrix} \\{{R_{Pk} \cdot {\hat{e}}_{U}^{k}} - \rho_{PkU}}\end{bmatrix} + \begin{bmatrix}\begin{matrix}\begin{matrix}\begin{matrix}ɛ_{p} \\ɛ_{p}\end{matrix} \\ɛ_{p}\end{matrix} \\\vdots\end{matrix} \\ɛ_{p}\end{bmatrix}}} & {{Eq}.\quad 8}\end{matrix}$

As shown in Equation 8, the mobile station 409 can determine itsposition independently without requiring a data link to a referencestation. Therefore, the user equipment of the synchronized pseudolitenavigation system becomes simplified.

As mentioned before, the pseudorange measurement error ε_(ρ) has a unitsize of meter (m), and the carrier-phase measurement error ε_(φ) has aunit size of millimeter (mm). So, the pseudorange measurement errorε_(ρ) and/or carrier-phase measurement error ε_(φ) can be used for thepositioning of a mobile station 409 according to the required precision.That is, in a case where meter-unit error is allowed, the mobile station409 is positioned using the pseudorange measurement error, or if acentimeter-unit error is allowed, the mobile station 409 is positionedusing the carrier-phase measurement error.

In addition, it is possible to use the pseudorange measurement errorand, determine an approximate position of the mobile station 409 untilan unknown integer N_(PkU) is determined in the process of determiningthe position of the mobile station 409 using the carrier-phasemeasurement error.

Hereinafter, clock synchronization of the pseudolites will be described.FIG. 7 is a conceptual diagram describing a pseudolite clocksynchronization process of the navigation system in accordance with anembodiment of the present invention. In the drawing, ρ denotes apseudorange measurement and φ denotes a carrier-phase measurement. Asdescribed in the drawing, the clock synchronization loop filtering unit407 computes a single differenced range _(m)Δ_(s)φ between the masterpseudolite 401 and the slave pseudolite 403 based on Equation 9, shownbelow. In the mean time, since the positions of the clocksynchronization loop filtering unit 407 and the pseudolites 401 and 403are predetermined precisely, the geometrical distance difference_(m)Δ_(s)d is determined as Equation 10, shown below. Therefore, theclock synchronization error _(m)Δ_(s)b between the master pseudolite 401and the slave pseudolite 403 is defined as Equation 11._(m)Δ_(s)φ≡φ_(m)−φ_(s)  Eq. 9_(m)Δ_(s) d≡d _(r) ^(m) −d _(r) ^(s)  Eq. 10_(m)Δ_(s) b≡b _(m) −b _(s)=_(m)Δ_(s)φ−_(m)Δ_(s) d  Eq. 11

-   -   wherein _(m)Δ_(s)φ represents a single differenced range;    -   φ_(m) denotes a carrier-phase of the master pseudolite;    -   φ_(s) denotes a carrier-phase of the slave pseudolite;    -   _(m)Δ_(s)d denotes a geometrical distance difference between the        master pseudolite and the slave pseudolite;    -   d_(r) ^(m) denotes a geometrical distance between the master        pseudolite and the reference station;    -   d_(r) ^(s) denotes a geometrical distance between the slave        pseudolite and the reference station;    -   _(m)Δ_(s)b denotes a clock synchronization error between the        master pseudolite and the slave pseudolite;    -   b_(m) denotes a clock of the master pseudolite; and    -   b_(s) denotes a clock of the slave pseudolite.

The clock synchronization loop filtering unit 407 transmits an operationcommand U_(k) to the digitally controlled numerical controlledoscillator 405 based on the clock synchronization error of Equation 11.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart describing the operation of the clocksynchronization loop filtering unit. The clock synchronization loopfiltering unit 407 performs the operation of data preconditioning S801to S807 and pseudolite clock synchronization S809 to S813.

In the data preconditioning process, at step S801, a pseudorange andcarrier-phase measurements of all pseudolites are transmitted from a GPSreceiver in the clock synchronization loop filtering unit 407 in apredetermined period (for example, 10 Hz), and then a single differencedmeasurement between the master pseudolite 401 and the slave pseudolite403 is calculated. Subsequently, at step S803, an accumulated lockingepoch number and an accumulated cycle-slip epoch number are updated.Then, at step S805, a carrier-phase cycle-slip processing is performedas illustrated in FIG. 9, and at step S807, a single differencedpseudorange measurement and a single differenced carrier-phasemeasurement are smoothed. Here, a single differenced hatch filter and/ora single differenced phi smoothing filter may be used at the step S807.The pseudolite clock synchronization process is performed by using thesingle differenced pseudorange measurement and the single differencedcarrier-phase measurement, which are smoothed through the datapreconditioning process.

The pseudolite clock synchronization process includes steps ofsynchronizing the clocks approximately by using the pseudorange (S809),a frequency lock loop process (S811) using Doppler, and a phase lockloop process (S813) by using a carrier-phase.

FIG. 10 is a flow chart describing the clock synchronization processconversion order and condition of the clock synchronization loopfiltering unit 407. The correspondence of each synch-phase and the clocksynchronization process are as shown in the below table. Synch-Phase 1Parameter Initialization Single Synch-Phase 2 PseudorangeSynchronization Differenced Synch-Phase 3 Approximate SynchronizationPseudorange of Pseudorange Synchronization (S809) Synch-Phase 4Frequency Synchronization Frequency Loop Initialization SynchronizationSynch-Phase 5 Phase Synchronization Loop (S811) InitializationSynch-Phase 6 Phase Synchronization Loop Phase InitializationSynchronization Synch-Phase 7 Phase Synchronization (S813)

As illustrated in FIGS. 8 and 10, the clock synchronization loopfiltering unit 407 performs a process (S809, S811 or S813) incorrespondence to the current synch-phase, and updates the synch-phase.Subsequently, it performs the pseudolite clock synchronization processby using the inputted single differenced pseudorange and singledifferenced carrier-phase measurements, thereby synchronizing the slavepseudolites 403 with the master pseudolite 401 gradually.

In the approximate synchronization process (S809) using the pseudorange,the clock of the slave pseudolite 403 is controlled for a predeterminedtime Δt (for example, 10 seconds) so that the single differencedpseudorange _(m)Δ_(s)ρ and geometrical distance _(m)Δ_(s)d of the masterpseudolite 401 and the slave pseudolites 403 could be agreed.

FIG. 11 is a graph illustrating a process of the clock synchronizationloop filtering unit 407 controlling a reference clock of the digitallycontrolled numerical controlled oscillator 405 in the synchronous phase2 (synch-phase 2). The frequency change amount δƒ applied to thedigitally controlled numerical controlled oscillator 405 of the slavepseudolite 403 at t=t₀ is expressed as Equation 12. $\begin{matrix}{{\delta\quad f} = \frac{\quad_{m}{{\Delta_{s}{\rho\left( t_{0} \right)}} -_{m}{\Delta_{s}d}}}{\Delta\quad{t \cdot \lambda}}} & {{Eq}.\quad 12}\end{matrix}$

Subsequently, a frequency of the digitally controlled numericalcontrolled oscillator 405 is determined as shown in Equation 13 att=t₀+Δt to match the Doppler of the slave pseudolite 403 to the Dopplerof the master pseudolite. $\begin{matrix}{f_{C} = {f_{0} = {f_{i} + \frac{\quad_{m}\Delta_{s}{\overset{.}{\rho}\left( t_{0} \right)}}{\lambda}}}} & {{Eq}.\quad 13}\end{matrix}$

-   -   wherein ƒ_(i) denotes a clock frequency of the digitally        controlled numerical controlled oscillator 405 at t=t₀;    -   ƒ₀ denotes a clock frequency of the digitally controlled        numerical controlled oscillator 405 at t=t₀+Δt; and    -   _(m)Δ_(s){dot over (ρ)}(t₀) denotes a single differenced Doppler        measured at t=t₀.

The frequency determined above is transmitted to the digitallycontrolled numerical controlled oscillator 405 as a synchronizationinformation U_(k).

Since the reference clock of the slave pseudolite 403 is changeddramatically during the above process, the clock synchronization loopfiltering unit 407 cannot track the signal of the slave pseudolite 403normally. Thus, after the frequency ƒ₀ is supplied to the digitallycontrolled numerical controlled oscillator 405 of the slave pseudolite403, the updated Doppler information of the slave pseudolite 403 shouldbe inputted to a channel of the clock synchronization loop filteringunit 407 so as to reduce the signal re-acquisition time.

When the clock synchronization loop filtering unit 407 re-acquires thesignal, approximate synchronization is performed with respect to thesingle differenced pseudorange by changing the frequency change amountδƒ, based on the switching boundary Δρ_(swi)=_(m)Δ_(s)ρ−_(m)Δ_(s)d. Therelationship between the switching boundaryΔρ_(swi)=_(m)Δ_(s)ρ−_(m)Δ_(s)d and the frequency change amount δƒ_(i)can be determined in various manners. To take an example, it can bedetermined experimentally as shown in Table 1 below. FIG. 12 is a graphdescribing the relationship between the switching boundary and afrequency change amount in the synch-phase 3 of the clocksynchronization loop filtering unit 407.

The relationship between the switching boundaryΔρ_(swi)=_(m)Δ_(s)ρ−_(m)Δ_(s)d and the frequency change amount δƒ_(i) isillustrated in FIG. 12. TABLE 1 Δρ_(swi) = _(m)Δ_(s)ρ − _(m)Δ_(s)d (m)δf_(i) (Hz) Δρ_(sw1) 3.0 δf₁ 0.005 Δρ_(sw2) 4.0 δf₂ 0.004 Δρ_(sw3) 5.0δf₃ 0.003

When the frequency change amount δƒ_(i) is switched, it is desirable notto cause chattering by using Schmitt trigger. If thepseudo-synchronization error _(m)Δ_(s)ρ−_(m)Δ_(s)d is not more than 0.5meter, the approximate synchronization process (S809) using apseudorange is terminated.

At step S811, frequency synchronization process using Doppler isperformed by using the smoothed single differenced Doppler as an inputsignal and performing discreteness as Equation 14. FIG. 13 is anexemplary schematic diagram showing a secondary frequencysynchronization loop filter for frequency synchronization in thesynch-phase 5 of the clock synchronization loop filtering unit 407 inaccordance with an embodiment of the present invention.ec _(k) = _(m)Δ_(s){dot over ({circumflex over (φ)})}_(k){dot over ({circumflex over (θ)})}_(k)+1={dot over ({circumflex over(θ)})}_(k) +T·ω ₀ ² ·ec _(k){circumflex over (θ)}_(k)+1={circumflex over (θ)}_(k) +T·({dot over({circumflex over (θ)})} _(k) +a ₂·ω0·ec_(k))∴U _(k)={dot over ({circumflex over (θ)})}_(k) +a ₂·ω₀ ·ec _(k)  Eq. 14

-   -   wherein T=0.1 sec; and {dot over ({circumflex over (θ)})}₀=f_(c)        ₀ −1.023 MHz.

Meanwhile, ω₀ and a₂ are determined as shown in Equation 15 by thebandwidth B_(n) of the filter. $\begin{matrix}{{\omega_{0} = \frac{B_{n}}{0.53}}{a_{2} = {1.414\quad\omega_{0}}}} & {{Eq}.\quad 15}\end{matrix}$

That is, the performance of the frequency synchronization loop filter iswholly determined by the bandwidth B_(n) of the loop filter.Accordingly, the bandwidth B_(n) can be changed gradually based on thesize of the single Doppler synchronization error _(m)Δ_(s){dot over({circumflex over (φ)})} without being fixed as one value. Therelationship between the size of the single Doppler synchronizationerror _(m)Δ_(s){dot over ({circumflex over (φ)})} and the bandwidthB_(n) can be determined in various manners. For example, it can bedetermined experimentally as shown in FIG. 2 below. TABLE 2_(m)Δ_(s){circumflex over (φ)} (m/s) B_(n) (Hz) ≦5.0 0.20 ≦10.0 0.25≦20.0 0.30 >20.0 0.35

When the single Doppler synchronization error _(m)Δ_(s){dot over({circumflex over (φ)})} becomes not more than 1.0 m/s, the step S811 isterminated.

At step S813, phase synchronization process using carrier-phase isperformed by using the carrier-phase synchronization error_(m)Δ_(s){circumflex over (φ)}−_(m)Δ_(s)d as an input signal andperforming discreteness as Equation 16. FIG. 14 is an exemplaryschematic diagram showing a tertiary phase synchronization loop filterfor phase synchronization in the synch-phase 7 of the clocksynchronization loop filtering unit 407 in accordance with an embodimentof the present invention.ec _(k)=_(m)Δ_(s){circumflex over (φ)}_(k)−_(m)Δ_(s) d{umlaut over ({circumflex over (θ)})}_(k+)1={umlaut over ({circumflexover (θ)})}_(k) +T·ω ₀ ³ ·ec _(k){dot over ({circumflex over (θ)})}_(k+)1={dot over ({circumflex over(θ)})}_(k) +T·({umlaut over ({circumflex over (θ)})} _(k) +a ₃ω₀ ² ·ec_(k)){dot over ({circumflex over (θ)})}_(k+)1={dot over ({circumflex over(θ)})}_(k) +T·({dot over ({circumflex over (θ)})}_(k) +b ₃ω₀ ·ec _(k))∴U _(k)={dot over ({circumflex over (θ)})}_(k) +b ₃·ω₀ ·ec _(k)  Eq. 16

-   -   wherein T=0.1 sec;    -   {dot over ({circumflex over (θ)})}₀={dot over ({circumflex over        (θ)})}_(FLL); and    -   {umlaut over ({circumflex over (θ)})}₀={umlaut over ({circumflex        over (θ)})}_(FLL)

Meanwhile, ω₀, a₃ and b₃ are determined by the bandwidth B_(n) of thefilter as shown in Equation 17. $\begin{matrix}{{\omega_{0} = \frac{B_{n}}{0.7845}}{a_{3} = 1.1}{b_{3} = 2.4}} & {{Eq}.\quad 17}\end{matrix}$

FIG. 15 is a graph illustrating an experimental output of the pseudolitenavigation system in accordance with an embodiment of the presentinvention. After 2500 pieces of data are received, a result that theclocks of the master pseudolite and slave pseudolites are synchronizedwith an error of standard deviation 0.1 cycle. Since the length of acarrier-phase is around 0.19 m, when the error is converted into adistance, it becomes about 2 cm.

This figure is nothing but an approximate figure obtained in thelaboratory. So, it is possible to reduce the carrier-phase error lessthan 1 cm within the scope of not getting out of the concept of thepresent invention.

This shows that when a three-dimensional mobile station usescarrier-phase, it can detect out its own position within 10 cm, althoughthe result may come out differently according to the arrangement ofpseudolites. That is, it can be seen from FIG. 15 that in the precisenavigation system using pseudolites of the present invention, the mobilestation can position itself by using a GPS receiver only within theerror range of 10 cm, without correction information transmitted from anexternal reference station through a data link.

The system of the present invention can be embodied as a program andstored in a computer-readable recording medium, such as CD-ROM, RAM,ROM, floppy disks, hard disks, optical-magnetic disks and the like.

While the present invention has been described with respect to certainpreferred embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled in the artthat various changes and modifications may be made without departingfrom the scope of the invention as defined in the following claims.

In accordance with the present invention, a mobile station can computesits own position precisely by synchronizing the clocks of pseudolites ina navigation system using pseudolites and, thus, making the clock errorsof the pseudolites included in carrier-phase and/or pseudorange, withoutrelying on the correction information transmitted from a referencestation.

In accordance with the present invention, since the pseudolitenavigation system determines the position of a mobile station by usingclock-synchronized pseudolites, it does not require a reference stationmeasuring clock difference information between the pseudolites, i.e.,pseudorange and/or carrier-phase correction information. It also doesnot require a data link between the reference station and the mobilestation for transmitting the correction information as well as anadditional algorithm for the sampling clock synchronization of thereference station and the mobile station, which is required due to thesetup of the data link between the reference station and the mobilestation.

1. A precise navigation system using pseudolites that can determine aposition of a mobile station even without correction informationtransmitted from a reference station through a data link, comprising: amaster pseudolite having a reference clock of the navigation system; atleast one slave pseudolite having a digitally controlled numericalcontrolled oscillating means; a mobile station which determines aposition of the mobile station based on a clock synchronized signaltransmitted from the master and slave pseudolites even withoutcorrection information transmitted from the reference station throughthe data link; and a clock synchronization loop filtering means forgenerating synchronization information U_(k) of the slave pseudolite(s)based on the pseudorange and/or carrier-phase information received fromthe master pseudolite and the slave pseudolite(s), and transmitting thesynchronization information U_(k) to the digitally controlled numericalcontrolled oscillating means so that the digitally controlled numericalcontrolled oscillating means could synchronize the clock(s) of the slavepseudolite(s) with the reference clock of the master pseudolite.
 2. Thesystem as recited in claim 1, wherein the clock synchronization loopfiltering means includes a processor, and the processor controls theclock synchronization loop filter to perform the steps of: a) generatinga single differenced pseudorange information and a single differencedcarrier-phase information based on the pseudorange and/or carrier-phaseinformation; b) smoothing the received pseudorange using carrier-phaseinformation and generating smoothed pseudorange; and c) generating acontrolled signal for controlling the digitally controlled numericalcontrolled oscillating means to synchronize the clock(s) of the slavepseudolite(s) with the reference clock of the master pseudolitegradually based on the smoothed pseudorange and/or carrier-phaseinformation.
 3. The system as recited in claim 2, where the step a)includes the steps of: a1) computing a single differenced rangemeasurement _(m)Δ_(s)φ between the master pseudolite and the slavepseudolite(s) based on Equation 1 below; and a2) generating a clocksynchronization error information _(m)Δ_(s)b between the masterpseudolite and the slave pseudolite(s) by using Equation 3 based on thesingle differenced range measurement _(m)Δ_(s)φ between the masterpseudolite and the slave pseudolite(s) and geometrical distancedifference information _(m)Δ_(s)d between the reference station and themaster and slave pseudolites, which is predetermined by using Equation2,_(m)Δ_(s)φ≡φ_(m)−φ_(s)  Eq. 1_(m)Δ_(s) d≡d _(r) ^(m) −d _(r) ^(s)  Eq. 2_(m)Δ_(s) b≡b _(m) −b _(s) =mΔ_(s)φ−_(m)Δ_(s) d  Eq. 3 wherein_(m)Δ_(s)φ represents a single differenced range; φ_(m) denotes acarrier-phase of the master pseudolite; φ_(s) denotes a carrier-phase ofthe slave pseudolite; _(m)Δ_(s)d denotes a single differencedgeometrical distance between the master pseudolite and the slavepseudolite; d_(r) ^(m) denotes a geometrical distance between the masterpseudolite and the reference station; d_(r) ^(s) denotes a geometricaldistance between the slave pseudolite and the reference station;_(m)Δ_(s)b denotes a clock synchronization error between the masterpseudolite and the slave pseudolite; b_(m) denotes a clock of the masterpseudolite; and b_(s) denotes a clock of the slave pseudolite.
 4. Thesystem as recited in claim 2, wherein the step c) includes the step of:synchronizing the single differenced pseudorange between the masterpseudolite and the slave pseudolite(s) with the single-differencedgeometrical distance.
 5. The system as recited in claim 2, wherein thestep c) includes the step of: synchronizing a frequency of the slavepseudolite(s) with a frequency of the master pseudolite based on aDoppler information of the master and slave pseudolites.
 6. The systemas recited in claim 2, wherein the step c) includes the step of:synchronizing a carrier-phase of the slave pseudolite(s) with acarrier-phase of the master pseudolite based on the carrier-phases ofthe master and slave pseudolites.
 7. The system as recited in claim 1,wherein the mobile station determines the position of the mobile stationwithin a meter-unit error based on the pseudorange information.
 8. Thesystem as recited in claim 1, wherein the mobile station determines theposition of the mobile station within a centimeter-unit error based onthe carrier-phase information.
 9. The system as recited in claim 1,wherein the master and slave pseudolites uses a frequency of GlobalPositioning System satellite navigation system.
 10. The system asrecited in claim 1, wherein the master and slave pseudolites use a cleanand acquisition (C/A) code or a precision (P) code as a pseudo-randomnumber (PRN) code.
 11. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein themaster and slave pseudolites use a PRN code having a rate of 1.023 MHzor 10.23 MHz.
 12. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein said systemis established in the indoors or the outdoors.
 13. A precise navigationsystem using pseudolites that can determine a position of a mobilestation even without correction information transmitted from a referencestation through a data link, comprising: a master pseudolite having areference clock of the navigation system; at least one slave pseudolitehaving a digitally controlled numerical controlled oscillating meansconnected to the master pseudolite though a cable or wireless data linkand controls its clocks based on the reference clock transmitted fromthe master pseudolite; and a mobile station which determines a positionof the mobile station based on a clock synchronized signal transmittedfrom the master and slave pseudolites even without correctioninformation transmitted from the reference station through the datalink.